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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · press · chair · season · stem · net · firm · stock

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stem — to come from
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. wound — an injury
  8. press — to push
  9. firm — decided
  10. firm — steady
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. season — of the year
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. chair — a leader
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. net — for catching
  20. stock — goods
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. firm — a company
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stock — shares

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com